SHOULD we get rid of the menopause? Experience with women who have received frozen ovaries for medical reasons make this a real possibility 鈥� one that some are keen to take up.
Many women might jump at the chance. A 2005 survey found that 63 per cent of European women had severe symptoms from the menopause; 84 per cent said these should be treated.
Many were reluctant to use hormone replacement therapy, seeing it as risky and intrusive. Restoring a woman鈥檚 hormonal profile by implanting her own tissue might seem a better option.
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Assuming the new technique proves safe and effective, it still raises questions. The flip side of delayed menopause is prolonged fertility. But there is ample precedent for that. In 1966, when the average age for a women to have her first child was 24, the idea of a 40-year-old new mum would have caused consternation. Now it is widely accepted.
Menopause is a natural part of a woman鈥檚 life cycle. There is much we still don鈥檛 know about its role and effects. But we needn鈥檛 see it as an inviolable rite of passage. Delaying it until the time feels right could give women back a sense of control 鈥� at a time when their bodies can seem hell-bent on taking it from them.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐hanging the change鈥�
